Arshad Warsi: ‘I have no qualms in saying that Maria is a far more intelligent person than I am’

After appearing in the commercial entertainer Bachchhan Paandey, Arshad Warsi is back with a more nuanced short film in the Amazon Prime Video anthology Modern Love: Mumbai. Directed Nupur Asthana, his short with Chitrangada Singh is titled Cutting Chai.
In the trailer of Modern Love: Mumbai, we see Arshad’s character asking Chitrangada’s character, “Meri tie kahaan hai?” This happens when she is trying to tell him something important, but he doesn’t pay heed. Arshad plays a typical male chauvin husband in Cutting Chai.
In this interview with , Arshad Warsi opens up about what kind of marriage he has with wife Maria Goretti, the time in their life when he was jobless and Maria was the sole breadwinner of the family, and more.
Stills from Cutting Chai, a short film in Modern Love: Mumbai. (Photos: Amazon Prime Video/Instagram)
Excerpts from the interview:
Why Cutting Chai? How different is it to work in films and OTT projects?
One never has a cutting chai alone, it is always ‘do cutting’ (two half cups of tea). And, I think it is a beautiful thing actually. I am glad we could do it before anybody else did. How different is working in films and on OTT? I don’t know. I read a script. I like it. Whatever I am told to play, I play. That’s how it is for me. It is not a big issue, neither is it complicated.
You are doing more work than ever before.
I am everywhere. But there has not been a switch per say. As I have always said, I am so comfortable with my house and little den. I love being there. So, you have to get me something really good for me to get out of that comfort zone. For me, if there is a good script, I will do it. I can’t do crap. I’d rather stay home, go on a holiday or hang out with my kids.

Cutting Chai seems like a love story of a middle-aged couple. We don’t see such stories much in our films.
Movies are a different ball game. They are made for a different reason. They are made to generate a lot of money. And, you generate more revenue when you have two young kids falling in love. The moment you change age, all these bits of fun go away. It is a different relationship. It is a different kind of love, more mature love. ‘Uss pyar mein theraav aa gaya hai‘ (Mature relationships have a kind of calmness). It is deeper and different. It is not fun anymore. It is educating. You learn from that love. It is fun to watch a young couple singing and dancing around trees, and doing disco. It is visually appealing, and it is business.
So has the audience evolved and would they not like some mature storytelling also?
That’s why Modern Love has come. For example, if you have a very real love story on screen, it is hard for people to go and watch it. They will wait for something like this to come on TV. So why not bring it on TV directly through OTT?
When you go to watch a film in a theatre, it is a different feeling.. There is a very small number of people who actually watch sensible cinema. The majority of our country watches pure entertainment, which includes your south remakes or Salman Khan’s movies.

So has the audience evolved and would they not like some matured storytelling also?
Thats why this has come, Modern Love. For example, if you have a very real love story on screen, it is hard for people to go and watch it. They’ll wait for something like this to come on TV. So why not bring it on TV directly, so OTT comes in place.
When you go to watch a film in theatre, it is a different feeling, different sensibility. There is a very small number of people who actually watch sensible cinema. The majority of our country watches pure entertainment, which includes your south remakes, or Salman Khan’s movies, it’s pure entertainment.
In the Modern Love: Mumbai trailer, we see you asking Chitrangada, “Meri tie kahaan hai?” How different are you as a husband in real life?
Personally, Maria (Arshad’s wife Maria Goretti) asks me, “Meri tie kahaan hai”. I think I am quite an evolved guy. There was a time when I had no work and Maria was working. She was the bread earner of the family. For three years, I was sitting at home and looking after the house. I used to cook and clean the house. I don’t care about all these things. I have been like this all my life. This is how I am made, and I am fine with it. For me, it is quite a balanced thing between a man and a woman. I have no qualms in saying that Maria is a far more intelligent person than I am. She is far more educated. Tomorrow, if she is working and I am not, it won’t bother me. This has happened in our life and it didn’t bother me at all.